A Highland Track Overview – Overview

Developer inkle has a observe file for making experimental narrative-focused video games dripping with vibes, together with the sky-faring 80 Days, the reverse homicide thriller Overboard, and the language-translating Heaven’s Vault. Their newest sport is the enigmatic mountain-climbing narrative journey A Highland Track. Set within the Scottish Highlands, you management the younger woman Moira who runs away from dwelling in a mad sprint to succeed in her uncle’s lighthouse and see the ocean. The essential plot is comparatively easy as your finish purpose is laid out immediately, however via a couple of dynamic replays, impactful revelations and a wealth of tantalizing narrative threads add a gripping emotional weight to the entire expertise.

A Highland Track tells a narrative that may solely be instructed in video games as a result of the best way it unfolds is all associated to your play, constructing as you uncover new paths and work out totally different connections. Moira initially has two maps that showcase two totally different mountain peaks with hidden paths close by. Matching the map to the appropriate peak offers you the inclination of the place the hidden path is and as soon as you discover the trail, you possibly can transfer to a brand new space, discover a new map, and search out extra peaks and paths. It’s troublesome to parse out the complete scale and scope of the world, however that’s a part of the general level. You and Moira are desperately piecing collectively the appropriate option to the ocean and generally that may be disorienting.

Climbing and transferring across the hills and mountains is simple, that includes a variety of context delicate inputs that enable Moira to ascend, descend, run, and soar. Determining the appropriate option to climb to a brand new top or safely get right down to a brand new path in a valley requires planning and timing. Or you possibly can simply say “eff it” and soar down and incur some quantity of fall injury (or lose all of your well being and fail). A day/night time cycle and climate additionally components into your maneuvering, so it’s good to hold an eye fixed out on shelters to attend out storms and relaxation.

The move of the sport is superb, and as soon as I bought a grasp of it I used to be mesmerized exploring the beautiful countryside, selecting up intriguing clues and studying bits of wider lore that, no less than in my time with the sport, led to some gratifying and heartbreaking payoffs. It is a stunning sport with watercolor-esque backgrounds, spectacular lighting, and beautiful animation. The music enhances the visuals with stunning Scottish people music (from acclaimed bands Talisk and Fourth Moon). I like the music, however I didn’t love the recurring rhythm sport segments that highlighted the music. Particularly in handheld mode, it was troublesome to learn the variations between buttons as you moved throughout the bottom, tapping the appropriate button as Moira ran over it. There are a variety of choices to alter the problem of various points of the sport, together with the rhythm sport elements, however I typically like rhythm video games and I used to be upset to have a problem with it.

Even with my comparatively minor points, A Highland Track is a robust sport crammed with a definite mystique. The general purpose requires enjoying via it a couple of occasions, however with every playthrough, you could have extra peaks and paths accessible proper from the get-go. It is a sport that’s about optimizing your approach via the mountains but in addition grapples with the truth that that degree of optimization isn’t possible. That ethereal otherworldliness lingers all through each engrossing hour, beckoning you to search out essentially the most environment friendly path to the lighthouse whereas additionally tying up each unfastened finish. It is a stunning, beautiful sport that shouldn’t be missed.